Best (Batteries and Energy Storage Technology) Magazine featured Zinc recently in their winter 2021 issue: It’s Time for Zinc to Swim.
This comes as the LOLABAT (LOng LAsting BATtery system) program launches in Europe, a consortium of seventeen industrial and academic partners working to commercialize Zinc-Nickel battery technology for grid-scale energy storage for a single, smart European Electricity Grid. At the heart of the program is SunErgy, a French company specializing in Zinc-Nickel battery design whose earlier technology was sold to Chilwee Battery Group.
Zinc-Nickel (our preferred term for the technology often called Nickel-Zinc) is a particularly attractive technology for the EU’s clean energy goals because the materials are abundant, economical, and easily recyclable (Note the presence of Accurec Recycling, GmbH on the consortium). Europe has long been a leader in climate change policy, and embracing the long-term benefits of Zinc-based energy storage makes absolute sense. We should expect to see more European interest in Zinc as the commercialization of Zinc-based secondary batteries continues in North America and Australia.